…of traditional mass-market media. – Russell Beattie, concerning the Adam Curry / Sirius Radio deal.
On today’s DSC (and in today’s NYT), Adam Curry announced the four-hour Podshow on Sirius radio. On May 13, Adam will begin hosting a four-hour daily show with the best of podcast content from around the world. For those with Sirius receivers, the content will be played on channel 148 (“Talk Central”). For those w/o Sirius, you won’t get the content. Or, maybe you will get pieces of it through the Daily Source Code.
But I find it odd that Adam is going from a generally available medium (as long as you have broadband connectivity) to a generally closed medium (i.e., proprietary, subscription-only satellite radio). Adam’s efforts will certainly boost the visibility of podcasting, but this cross-promotion will only play to a small audience (i.e., Sirius subscribers). While I applaud the elevation of podcasting in other mediums, I wonder if this will be a sufficient step to place podcasting into the greater consumer conciousness. And the price may even be too high to bear.
And my thoughts are echoed by many others. Steve Kirks (product manager for Radio Userland) has some pretty pithy comments about the deal on Russell’s blog. He noted, “I see the Sirius gig as something more sad than glad, I guess.” Indeed, he thinks that this move will split the podcasting community into two camps: the professional “haves” and the needy “have nots.” And Steve may be right. But I’ll let time and history determine whether Adam or Steve is correct.
Dave Slusher (Evil Genius Chronicles) had some very strong words for the Infinity radio channel deal. In this deal, a failed radio station is collecting podcasters to “fill the pipeline” with content. Dave warns the podcasting community that we may be giving away something that others will gladly take from us and then successfully monetize for themselves.
And what is Dave Winer saying? Dave is taking the high road and applauding Adam on his success. Congratulations to Dave for publicly demonstrating bonhommie. He could have taken the low road and trashed Adam for selling out. Dave didn’t. Let’s follow Dave’s example.
And here are my $0.02. I love the marketplace of ideas. I can’t wait to see how this venture will play out. This _will_ elevate podcasting. And it won’t change the fact that even more people can develop and distribute content – however good or bad that content might be. I have to agree with Russell Beattie. He said, “…Adam really showed us all what was possible and moved everything forward I think a lot faster than normal. If anyone else had done Podcasting first, it wouldn’t have taken off nearly as fast, if at all.” I wonder what Russell thinks of the Paris Hilton podcast! 😉
Good luck, Adam!
-CyclingRoo-

BoingBoing has a good article based upon today’s NPR interview with David Byrne. David has launched an Internet radio station featuring the music that David is most interested in. It’s great to see music luminaries getting into new technology. First, Adam Curry (and David Winer) got the podcasting phenomenon off the ground. Now, musicians are getting into the tech biz as well. It’s nothing new – but it’s good to see David emerge again. Maybe he’ll be a force for big changes once again.
BTW, I may just have to check out David’s latest album (Grown Backwards). The reviews at Amazon are generally positive. This guy just keeps re-inventing himself!
-CyclingRoo-

Well, it’s been two days since my EarJams arrived. There are two different feelings I have about the purchasing experience.
First, e-commerce can be great and it can really suck. I had a gift card from my mother-in-law. And I had ~$25 left on the card. So you would assume that the EarJams purchase would “fit” quite nicely on the card. Oh no, Kemo Sabe! That would be a mistaken assumption. I “ordered” (purchased) the EarJams online. The online transaction was approved with the simplicity of a key click. Then the vendor (Griffin Technology) tried to process the transaction a second time (on the next business day). Of course, the second transaction wouldn’t work because of insufficient funds. So after having an approved transaction (and funds withdrawn from my card), the purchase was declined.
As much as I want to whine at them, I need to give Griffin some credit. I called their customer support number. They recognized the problem (as it had happened with numerous other “gift card” purchasers) and they shipped the EarJams right away. Indeed, I had them the very next day!
So the first feeling associated with the EarJams is frustration with inadequate processes to hold/clear purchases on Griffin’s e-commerce platform. I am sure that they will get this cleared up. Also, you can always purchase EarJams through a reseller like Amazon.
My second feelings about the EarJams are – wow! I love the bass boost. I love the volume increase (as the sound is _closer_ to my eardrums). I also love the fact that the ear buds no longer slip out of my ears. This is an extremely handy thing – especially for someone who is active.
How do they sound? Pretty good. They are not the kind of thing you want if you are seeking crystal-clear audio reproduction. But if you can live with that, then they are worth the $14.99.
-CyclingRoo-

OK. It’s been a few weeks since I launched this site. And a lot has happened. But if I don’t write it down when it happens, then why write it down later? Well, I won’t answer the rhetorical question myself. Here is what’s going on…
Last week, I finally received my iPod Shuffle. I had ordered the device the day that I launched this blog. I could say that I waited for my Shuffle before I resumed blogging. But that would be a lie.
First Thoughts on the Shuffle
Wow. Small, clean and crisp look, good sound. Five years ago, I bought a Sensory Science (long since out of business). It had 128MB of flash. It was extremely expensive then. And I did use it for a couple of years. But it was large. And the means to move data were crude. So when the Shuffle got announced, I decided to drop the $149 for the 1GB version. I am storing ~260 songs on the device. I have turned the flash drive on, and then off. It’s not that the flash device doesn’t work. It works great. But I want to use the device for sound first. I can already tell that that I will probably dedicate 25-50% of the Shuffle for file storage. But that will wait.
What were the downsides? First, the headphones didn’t work well. The left ear bud was woefully underpowered. So I called customer service at the Apple Store. Here is a synopsis that I sent to them:

Folks, you’ve hit a home run with me. I had to wait for the Shuffle. OK. It’s a popular product. But customer support was magnificent. I can’t tell you how much more I think of Apple because of my customer service experience. I want to thank the agent on the phone. I want to thank the agent’s management for instilling such a wonderful customer focus in their employees. And I want to thank the executives who have chosen to invest in the customer experience as an integral piece of the brand experience. For years, I have felt that the Apple “cult” was somewhat corny and kitschy. But after working (even briefly) with Apple’s customer support, I am now more willing than ever to consider Apple products as replacements for other products. Thanks for being competitive where it counts – in the customer experience. This is what brand identity is all about! 🙂

Second Thoughts on the Shuffle
Now that I have the new ear buds, I still think that the bass experience needs help. So I decided to use a little “coin of the realm” to boost the experience. I wasn’t about to buy something too expensive. After all, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money since I already had spent a few shillings on the Shuffle itself. So I went ahead and plunked down some change on Griffin EarJams. I should see them in a few days. But these gizmos are “inside the ear” resonating chambers. They fit over the existing Apple ear buds. But they are inserted into the ear canal itself. While I’m a little concerned about that, I’ll be careful when I use them.
I’ll report more on them once received. But for now, I just love the Shuffle. So I’ll spend the next few days learning more about iTunes. As a devoted Linux user, I am troubled that I am using a Mac OS/X app that’s been ported to Windows. But I’ll survive the humiliation – if y’all promise not to tell anyone!
-CyclingRoo-